Quick Updates!

Wow! Before I knew it seven months have gone by! Soooo many things have happened. It took me a little bit to adjust to being back home. Reverse culture shock wasn't as bad as I anticipated. I was super tired though while my body was adjusting to having my nights be my days. I would get super sleepy at work and had to fight through it.

I still have some posts to write about the end of my time in China. I also have some quick updates to share :)

Dongying Time Part 2

Sorry it has been so long since I updated! Things have finally been calming down for me. Happy new year! Enjoy Bob's last couple of days in China!

On Sunday (5/5), I took Boba to the electronic mall. He is a technophile, so I figured he would have lots of eyegasms checking out the merchandise. We meet up with Remus and Kim; she is one of Remus’ students. The three of us had gone out together a few times before this outing. 

Before we met up I sort of had a weird vibe, like I should have cancelled or something, but I thought nothing of it. When we arrive, Kim stepped in front of me and placed her hand on Boba’s shoulder. She proceeded to tell him that he was very handsome. -_- It definitely irritated me and rubbed me the wrong way. Since I’m abroad, my second thought was is this culturally acceptable? Usually my feelings aren't off, but you never know. I had no idea at the time (I know now that it isn’t. I told Dean what happened, and he was shocked and angry that she did that). 

Sometimes I get the feeling that some people here are shocked that I have a boyfriend and are even more shocked to discover that he's a different race than me. First off, no one expects me to have a love life. Remus says the first question he usually gets is does he have a girlfriend. The next question is does he like Chinese girls which is super awkward for him because he's not an Asian woman fetishizing douche. Foreign women in China don't usually get asked these questions. I don't think it has anything to do with my attractiveness; I think it's mostly based on me being Black and female. There is a lot of issues with anti-blackness and colorism in China (as well as other countries in East Asia). Lighter skin (specifically white skin) is perceived to be better than darker skin; these ideas existed before Western colonialism. Some women here use umbrellas in the summertime because they don’t want to get darker. Also, for some reason here the male foreigners are constantly asked about dating but the females are never asked. Nicky met her husband (Pan Chao) in Dongying and they were recently married and people (foreigners and locals) are very shocked to hear that she has a husband let alone a Chinese one.

I personally wouldn’t ever do what she did; Brit and I have told each other that we think the other’s boyfriend is super cute, but I wouldn’t tell her boyfriend that. If I made a remark, it would be about how they looked great together (they are so freakin cute!). But like I said before, something just made me uncomfortable. Boba handled it like a boss which one of the many things I love about him. We’re both super nice people, and we don’t think everyone wants us. But we both can sense when someone is flirting or stepping out of line, and we politely disengage. He politely said thank you, stepped back to stand beside me, and took my hand. Needless to say, I was ready for the outing to be over. We hung out for about an hour looking around. Then we took the bus back to the college campus. On the bus, Kim ran into a friend. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her gesture towards Boba and say something in Mandarin to her friend. 

When we arrived on campus, I could sense that she still wanted to hang out. I said I wanted to take a nap. She reluctantly said goodbye, and we headed to Remus’ apartment. We hung out there until dinner time. 

Last Day in Beijing and Dongying Time!

My last few weeks have been super crazy, busy, and tiring! There were a few downs, but I quickly picked myself up with the help of my friends and family. Special shout out to my wifey! I don't have much time left, so I refuse to be stressed or upset. I'll talk about the factors later, but everything's great now (except for my super case of boredom haha). I just had a wonderful birthday a few days ago!

I’m going to break up the rest of Boba’s visit into two posts. Some interesting things happened in Dongying that would be waaaayyyyy too long to put in one post. We packed in a lot during his time here. 

Our last day in Beijing was very chill. We checked out early and utilized the luggage room at Sanlitun (a cool perk!). We had a late bus back to Dongying, so we decided to walk around the mall area. We had dessert at the Godiva cafe! It was SO yummy!

We went to Uniqlo where I bought Boba a Metal Gear Rising shirt for a late birthday present. We had the pleasure of witnessing a Chinese man trying on pants in front of everyone. The men’s changing room was about a two second walk to his left. The security guard yelled at him in Chinese. Boba and I tried to contain our giggles. 

We had three awesome days in Beijing, now it was time for five days in Dongying. We arrived at the bus station about an hour early for our bus; I was not excited for the ride. I had just been on a bus a few days before, and I wasn’t feeling being on one again. We got back to Dongying around 11:30 pm. It took us awhile to get a taxi back because a lot the drivers were trying to cheat us. I really don’t like when they crowd around you boxing you in and refusing to me out of your way even though you are clearly ignoring them. I tend to go for the drivers that aren’t in my face. We finally get back to my school and promptly pass out. I had to wake up early to work the next day. Here begins Boba’s five days in Dongying!!!

I had to work seven days in a row to make up for our break. Holidays don’t really exist in China for teachers. Most schools make you make up the days you were off. What results is usually us working seven days in a row -_- This eats my soul and is usually atrocious. The kids get so cray when their schedule is broken. I love my babies, but it is a test of my strength, I tell you!

There isn’t much to do in my city (I’ll talk about this more in another post). Regardless, it was nice to have Boba see the area. As much as I wanted to see him, I didn't want him to visit last semester because I felt that there wasn't anything to see him. I didn't want him to waste time or money to come to Dongying, and I didn't know if I would have time to take him anywhere. Silly me, I forgot that he just wants to see me and didn't care about the other stuff lol 

I took him to the restaurants that I frequent. Taking him to Pizza Hut was super fun because it’s a super ritzy big deal here. He said that it reminded him of the scene from Demolition Man where they go to eat at Taco Bell! He had me rolling with that one! I could picture the scene in my head.

I did receive some frustrating news from my boss. He offered to have the school’s driver take Boba back to the airport. I was super excited because catching a taxi from the bus station to the airport is not fun. You literally have to stand on the side of the highway and fight against everyone that just got off the bus with you to get a taxi. Let’s not even add being at the airport four hours before your flight into this equation. My boss texts me to tell me that the school can’t do it. Of course he does this at the last minute, but it’s all good because this is typical behavior. I was already prepared and had back-up plans. I know I haven’t gone into much detail about my working situation on here, but it has been a hot mess. I usually have to expect the worst with my school and that's exactly what I get with a side of tom foolery. The best thing is I'm always prepared ^_^

Also, Boba got to meet Britni! I was so happy because she is my boo from another mother. We have SO much in common. We have that positively hated our previous job-are both Black-are both Geminis-in LDRs with awesome boyfriends-came to China-now we here connection. We have always understood the other and had each other's back. I definitely think we would have been friends in America. She later told me that Eileen asked what he looked like. Brit told her that I did good haha

The next post will be the last one for this break. Looking back I did a heck of a lot!